For distance measurements I use my own in game measurement (IGU). That IGU is simply 1/2 the total distance a fighter can fly. I know some people use the grid mod, but I don’t like it for calculating large distances – especially when I just need a rough estimate. Using the IGU we can calculate how long it takes individual units to travel one IGU:

This data can be used to determine approximate placements of your opponent’s ships. Imagine a game of EU vs Russia. The shortest distance for EU to send its subs to India (for an attack on Russia) is approximately 8 IGUs. 8 IGU / [3.15 IGU/hour] = 2.53 hours. No need to send bombers until the game has progressed 2 hours and 30 minutes. When should you send bombers? If your bombers are 3 IGUs away from India you need to send them 23 minutes before you want them to arrive. To complete this thought, the soonest EU could surface subs in India is at the 2:30 mark - to have your bombers circling India at that time you need to send them at 2:07 mark.

Similarly you can calculate the approximate position of the enemies traveling flotilla based on the elapsed time: been one hour and still haven’t seen Africa’s fleet? Maybe they are under Australia…

nb Silos nukes in the northern hemisphere travel a little faster depending on location. Speeds and ratios of nukes are mostly accurate out to 3 IGUs, but this is information is more useful for bomber and sub nukes.

These ratios are vital for interception times and naval nuking (nuke to ship interception). A simple example would be nuking a bomber that is retreating directly away form your bomber: Because nukes travel twice as fast as bombers fly, you measure the distance between your bomber and the enemy, add that distance again and fire your nuke along the line that the enemy bomber is flying. If you mark the position of the enemy bomber, your launch point, and the intercept point, you will notice that the nuke traveled two lengths and the bomber only one. This principle holds with every nuke vs bomber scenario. Imagine that the bomber is closing on your nuke instead of retreating from it. Where do you aim? Halfway between the bomber and the nuke? NO! You would aim 2/3 of the way between the bomber and the nuke – nuke travels two distances while the bomber travels one! It is a little trickier when the bomber isn’t directly retreating from or directly closing on your nuke. If for example your bombers are flying parallel to one another, you would need to find the spot on the enemy bombers flight path that allows your nuke to travel two distances to the bombers one – I use the orders tab and drag the nuke retical in front of the bomber until the nuke line looks twice as long as the distance from the enemy bomber to the intercept point. Hint: An 8 inch steel ruler with a cork back is very useful for determining flight paths and comparing distances (just make sure you don’t zoom when comparing distances).

Nuking ships uses a similar method – in this case the nuke travels 10 units to every three that the ship travels. So the distance the ship travels should be about 1/3 the distance the nuke travels. Same with subs but the nuke needs to travel 5 units to your opponents one. I refer to this as Rule 235. Nuke travels 2 distances for bombers, 3 for ships, and 5 for subs.

Tsar Bomba wrote:For distance measurements I use my own in game measurement (IGU). That IGU is simply 1/2 the total distance a fighter can fly. I know some people use the grid mod, but I don’t like it for calculating large distances – especially when I just need a rough estimate. Using the IGU we can calculate how long it takes individual units to travel one IGU:

This data can be used to determine approximate placements of your opponent’s ships. Imagine a game of EU vs Russia. The shortest distance for EU to send its subs to India (for an attack on Russia) is approximately 8 IGUs. 8 IGU / [3.15 IGU/hour] = 2.53 hours. No need to send bombers until the game has progressed 2 hours and 30 minutes. When should you send bombers? If your bombers are 3 IGUs away from India you need to send them 23 minutes before you want them to arrive. To complete this thought, the soonest EU could surface subs in India is at the 2:30 mark - to have your bombers circling India at that time you need to send them at 2:07 mark.

Similarly you can calculate the approximate position of the enemies traveling flotilla based on the elapsed time: been one hour and still haven’t seen Africa’s fleet? Maybe they are under Australia…

The following is the ratio between the speeds of different units:

Fighter to Nuke: 1:1 or 49:50 (in other words slightly slower than nukes)Fighter to Bomber: 2:1Fighter to Ship: 10:3Fighter to Sub: 5:1

Bomber to Fighter: 1:2Bomber to Nuke: 1:2 or 51:100 (slightly faster than 1/2 speed)Bomber to Ship: 5:3Bomber to Sub: 4:1

Nuke to Fighter: 1:1 or 50:49Nuke to Bomber: 1:2Nuke to Ship: 10:3Nuke to Sub: 5:1

Ship to Fighter: 3:10Ship to Bomber: 3:5Ship to Nuke: 3:10Ship to Sub: 3:2

Sub to Fighter: 1:5Sub to Bomber: 1:4Sub to Nuke: 1:5Sub to Ship 2:3

nb Silos nukes in the northern hemisphere travel a little faster depending on location. Speeds and ratios of nukes are mostly accurate out to 3 IGUs, but this is information is more useful for bomber and sub nukes.

These ratios are vital for interception times and naval nuking (nuke to ship interception). A simple example would be nuking a bomber that is retreating directly away form your bomber: Because nukes travel twice as fast as bombers fly, you measure the distance between your bomber and the enemy, add that distance again and fire your nuke along the line that the enemy bomber is flying. If you mark the position of the enemy bomber, your launch point, and the intercept point, you will notice that the nuke traveled two lengths and the bomber only one. This principle holds with every nuke vs bomber scenario. Imagine that the bomber is closing on your nuke instead of retreating from it. Where do you aim? Halfway between the bomber and the nuke? NO! You would aim 2/3 of the way between the bomber and the nuke – nuke travels two distances while the bomber travels one! It is a little trickier when the bomber isn’t directly retreating from or directly closing on your nuke. If for example your bombers are flying parallel to one another, you would need to find the spot on the enemy bombers flight path that allows your nuke to travel two distances to the bombers one – I use the orders tab and drag the nuke retical in front of the bomber until the nuke line looks twice as long as the distance from the enemy bomber to the intercept point. Hint: An 8 inch steel ruler with a cork back is very useful for determining flight paths and comparing distances (just make sure you don’t zoom when comparing distances).

Nuking ships uses a similar method – in this case the nuke travels 10 units to every three that the ship travels. So the distance the ship travels should be about 1/3 the distance the nuke travels. Same with subs but the nuke needs to travel 5 units to your opponents one. I refer to this as Rule 235. Nuke travels 2 distances for bombers, 3 for ships, and 5 for subs.

Most opponents try to dodge naval nukes. However good the nuking is, the dodger always has an advantage if he is good at reading the nukes curve and predicting its target. These rules can make you a better player, but the fudge factor for successful naval nuking will always remain.

I'm a noob and I guess I found this by accident to an extent. I was getting frustrated and tried to launch an SLBM at an OP4 fleet, thinking "The game's not gonna let me do that lol". Low and behold, it did and I wiped out 3 ships with it. I didn't think other players were doing that. Now, I find there's are actual formulas for it! Just another reason to love this game. Thanks.